Parkour Free Runners Act Like Orangutans to Aid Researchers

To watch an orangutan swing through the forest canopy is to witness the ultimate example of adaptation, athleticism, and economy—but how efficient, really, are these movements? How much energy do apes and other arboreal species lose due to the flexing of branches and gaps in the canopy? They are complex questions that have defied accurate analysis.

But now, a team of researchers at the University of Birmingham are looking to solve the problem with more than a mathematical model. The solution: Studying the movements and energy expenditures of professional parkour athletes as they move across canopy-like obstacle courses.

Dr. Susannah Thorpe, the senior lecturer in the School of Biosciences leading the study, explained that "methods to measure primate locomotion energetics are limited; most data are based on mathematical models. We propose a novel and more direct method to assess how costs of orang-utan arboreal locomotion are modulated by the environment."